Tribute to Arthur Winkler (1998)

TributeEulogy given by Ed Martin, Ph.D.Notes from Hypnosis and GodNotes from The Power of Suggestion with HypnosisNotes from HypnotherapyTributeI first came in contact with Dr. Arthur Winkler (who immediately told me to call him "Art") in the early 1980's when he was based in St. Louis, MO. I joined his National Society of Hypnotherapist and we began to correspond with each other. As we wrote, a friendship developed and I was overjoyed when he called me to announce that he was moving his organization to Springfield, La which is about 75 from New Orleans. Shortly after he set up shop in Springfield, I went to a weekend workshop on "Hypnosis for Healing." During that workshop, I made up my mind to write a book on hypnosis. I worked on it for several months and when it was completed began the long process of having it published. I would imagine signing copies at conferences, conventions, seminars and workshop. I sent an outline of the book to 33 publishers before it was finally accepted. I was on the verge of singing a contract but the company was hit with financial problems before the contract was signed. Thanks to what I had learned about the power of the mind at that workshop by Dr. Winkler, I did not give up. The book was finally published as Human Trinity Hypnotherapy. My second book was published by the first company I approached. The second book is Kissing Frogs: The Practical Uses of Hypnotherapy and it is in its second printing. I appreciate Art very much for inspiring me to write that first book. I had the honor of working with him for 2 or 3 years as part of his hypnotherapy certification course which was one week-end a month for 11 months which amounted to 132 hours of training. I would like to share with you four stories from those days. Art would often work with a student as part of his teaching. He was explaining the "Hand to Face" for therapy and ask for a volunteer. The lady who volunteered was a very thin woman and she wanted to eat more and improve her health. In hypnosis, he told her that her hand was moving toward her face, but her hand would not touch her face until her subconscious mind had worked out a very pleasant solution to her problem. He keep telling her that her hand was moving toward her face but would not touch her face until her subconscious mind had worked out a very pleasant solution to her problem. Her hand was moving toward her face, but just before it reached her face, her hand went up and over her head. She was not ready to be healed. Art then used his "Therapy Between Sessions" before bringing her out of the hypnotic state. In a session a month later, he did the procedure again and her hand touched her face. One of the women taking the course began a process of losing her hearing. She had been to her physician several times and her hearing was progressively deteriorating. Art did a "regression to cause" with her. She was in the process of a divorce which she did not want and whenever her husband or his lawyer would call she would say, "I don't want to hear this." Apparently her mind was granting her wish and she was losing her hearing. Art did a releasing technique and by the month, her hearing was back to normal. In another session, he was working with a woman for weight reduction. He used the term "Your body weight is going down to 120 pounds." Interestingly enough, she was losing weight but her hips were getting bigger. Art figured out what was happening, her subconscious mind was helping her reduce but also moving the weight "down" to her hips. He changed his wording and her hip began to reduce as well as the rest of her body. Art had always said that the client's weight would go down to her desired weight but this was the first time a client had taken the wording so literally that her hips were actually getting bigger. He used that incident to point out that the client may take the suggestions given as they are said. Point made; therapist beware of what you say. In nearby Baton Rogue, La, the manager of a Restaurant was shot in the head by a robber. He almost died. In fact, his mother said that the doctor had told them that he would not make it through the night and if he lived would have major brain damage. For weeks he was paralyzed, but was regaining his speech. He told his father to call Art because Art had help him stop smoking some months before the shooting. He believed that Art could help him walk again. Art had several sessions with him and he was make great progress. At a workshop, the young man came in walking with a walker. He told the story of his faith in God, Art's help with hypnotherapy and his own determination to heal. Remember, this is the same gentleman the doctor had said he was not going to make it through that first night and even if he did would suffer from severe brain damaged, never being able to talk and walk and ending up a vegetable. When he started to talk, and move around in a wheel chair, he was told that he would never walk. When he advanced to a walker, the doctor told him he would never be able to walk without the walker. The man told us that at this next doctor's appointment, he was going to set his walker aside and kick the doctor in the butt. Amen! E. Arthur Winkler, Th.D., Ph.D. was internationally recognized as a pioneer in innovative hypnosis techniques and was honored in 1993 with the prestigious life-time achievement award and was inducted into the International Hypnosis Hall of Fame. Dr. Winkler's graduate level degrees were in counseling, clinical psychology and theology. He believed God's healing processes are enhanced with proper therapeutic suggestion. Dr. Winkler has hypnotized thousands in group and individual sessions. He had over 40 years as therapeutic practitioner, popular key-note speaker and trainer, and noted author of more than 20 books on the healing power of the inner mind. He conducted in-depth research in many areas including smoking cessation, weight reduction, breast enhancement, healing from diabetes, asthma and cancer. He was an ordained minister of the United Methodist Church and the Church of Practical Theology. He died on Super Bowl Sunday 1998 after watching his beloved Denver Bronco's win the Supper Bowl.

Eulogy given by Ed Martinabout Art WinklerThere is a Universal Law which states: "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." I will always be grateful for the wonderful teacher, Art Winkler, who appeared when I was ready. He had a very unique gift of combining knowledge with practical experience so that he could help a very left brain analytical engineer learn to be creative and us the rest of his mind. Though Art Winkler, the universe has blessed me with valuable information to assist others.Art had a wonderful ability to blend all of his knowledge with humor. I will always remember the way he stopped some teasing that I was doing one time. On a trip to Houston 11 years ago, I was blessed by being asked to perform the first marriage ceremony for Art and Pam Winkler. I even made their first wedding ring. Then later I was teasing someone by saying that I had married Pam Winkler. Art grinned and replied, "You also married Art Winkler and we don't want to start any rumors." The legacy of Art Winkler is: he shared, helped and taught others love and how to live life to its fullest. The world has lost a very great and generous man in Art Winkler. I want to personally say: "Art I'll miss you. I hope to live my life in a way so that we'll be able to meet again in the field of all possibilities."

Notes from Hypnosis and GodHow Our Mind Receives Messages: (1) One source is our external environment. Everything in our external environment, the weather, the radio, television, our job, our associations with other people, and everything else that affects us as go about our daily activities, is constantly sending messages to us. (p 21) (2) A second source of receiving massages into our brain is through our body as it reacts to our external experience. The food we take into our system, the tensions, the pain, the laughter, the happiness, feelings of anger, other emotional reaction, the physical activities of our organs and gland, and may other parts of our body are constantly sending messages to our brain. (3) A third source of receiving messages into our brain is by way of our conscious mind, which handles our thinking processes. Our conscious mind filters many influencing factors which affect us consciously. (4) A fourth source, and possibly the source that affects us most is the unconscious level of our mind. The unconscious level of our mind receives everything that is brought into our mind by other sources. This part of our mind stores away all of the information that goes into it, without analyzing it. That includes everything we see, everything we hear, everything we feel, touch, or experience, whether we are consciously aware of it or not. (p 22) (5) A fifth possible source of receiving messages into our brain is by way of what I refer to as the "spirit mind." The part of the mind I'm referring to the part that is capable of turning into energy vibrations, such as thoughts and other senses hat we may not be consciously aware of. This may involve such thins as mental telepathy, intuitions, instincts of various types of abilities that come under the category of "psychic abilities." (p 22-23) In one of the Snoopy cartoons, it shows Snoopy dancing and shouting, "To dance is to live." In the next frame he says "I feel sorry for people who cannot dance." In the last frame he continues to dance joyfully and says to us, "If you can't dance, at least be able to do a happy hop" Chaplain Paul Durbin suggested that he would like to add one more frame which shows Snoopy continuing to dance and saying, "If you can't dance with your feet, at least be able to dance in your heart." Learn to dance the dance of joy. If not with your feet, do it at least in your heart. (p. 32-33) In Chaplain Paul Durbin's book Human Trinity Hypnotherapy, he mentions Hobart E. Freeman condemning hypnosis, claiming that God was opposed to hypnosis. Mr. Freeman quotes from Deuteronomy 18:9 "Thou shalt not learn to do after that abomination of those nations. There shalt not be found among you any one... that useth divination or an observer of the times, or an enchanter, or a consorter with familiar spirits, possessed with a spirit, or a witch, or an charmer, or a wizard, for all that do things are an abomination unto the Lord." For each of the things mentioned, Mr. Freeman interprets what the word means. For "charmer" he interprets that as meaning "hypnotist." Not only does Mr. Freeman misinterpret many of those words, he was especially incorrect in the interpretation of charmer as hypnotist.The Interpreters Bible states that "A charmer refers to whose who conjure up magical spells." The Pulpit Commentary reads, "A Charmer is a dealer in spells, one who by means of spells or charms pretends to achieve some desired results." (p 40)Dr. Durbin also mentions that Dennis and Rita Bennett reveal a complete misunderstanding of hypnosis by declaring "Hypnosis is particularly dangerous because it is thought to be a valid form of therapy in psychology land psychiatry, or as a alternative anesthesia in medicine and dentistry." The authors of The Holy Spirit and You add, "The fact is that hypnotism, too by placing the soul in a passively receptive state, even when the hypnotist has no such intention, opens the door to morbid spiritual influences that may bring oppression that last for years. Until the person is delivered by prayer and exorcism...Do not allow yourself to be hypnotized for any reason whatsoever." By making statements such as these the Bennetts reveal their total lack of knowledge about hypnosis. (p 41) A hypnotized person is never passively receptive to the hypnotist or any so-called spirit that wants to enter that person's soul and control it. I challenge the Bennetts to show me (Winkers) one case where this has ever happened to a person in hypnotic state. There is not one known case in the recorded history of hypnosis were this has ever happened. Of the few cases that are talked about; when they are investigated, they are found to be hearsay. (p 40-41)Secondary Gain from an Illness: On several occasions, I have had people come to me to be hypnotized, saying they wanted to be healed. Using hypnosis techniques that i have used to help hundreds of others be healed, these people were not healed. However we discovered that they did not really want to be healed. They were receiving some kind of secondary gain by remaining ill. One case involved a man who was receiving "Workman's Compensation." Another involved a lady whose children were at an age where they would have been leaving home. Se maintained her illness to keep her children at home. These are just a couple examples of people keeping an illness because of the secondary gain. Some people consciously pray for healing, yet at the same time they have a powerful unconscious motive which makes the illness more desirable. (p 37)God Does Not Cause Sickness: God is not a neurotic being, with a split personality, wanting some people to be sick and others to be healthy. If God wanted people to be sick, it would be useless to take any aspirin to try to get rid of a headache. If God waned me to have a headache, and I took an aspirin and got rid of the headache, it would mean I have out-smarted God. There would be noting we could do, or any physician could to to help people to be healed if God wanted us to be sick. (p 53)"PRECIOUS LORD," is probably one of the world's most popular Gospel songs, and it established its composer, Tom Dorsey, as the architect of Gospel Music. "Precious Lord's appeal has resulted in its translation into thirty-two languages. During the 1920's, Dorsey had achieved a measure of fame as a jazz musician, and it was in that period that he become intrigued with the idea of blending jazz and blues with Church music. In August 1932, Dorsey was scheduled to be the featured soloist in a St. Louis Church. Because his wife, Nettie, was pregnant, he was worried about leaving her at home in Chicago, "Something was telling me to stay." He said later. But he decided to keep his commitment and so he went to St. Louis. During the performance, a Western Union messenger handed Dorsey a telegram. Dorsey opened the envelope and read four words, "Your wife just died." He quickly returned home and learned that just before his wife died, she gave birth to a boy. Later that night, the baby died. "I buried Nettie and our son in the same casket," he said. "Then I feel apart. For days I closeted myself. I felt God had done me an injustice. I didn't want to serve Him anymore, or write any more Gospel songs. I could have laughter at the notions of God's justice and mercy." Then one day, he sat down at the piano. "My hands began to browse on the keys," he said. "then something happened! I felt as though I could reach out and touch God. I found myself playing a melody I had never heard before and words come into my head - they just seemed to fall into place." (p 82) Precious Lord, take may hand, Lead me on, let me stand I am tired, I am weak, I am worn. Though the storm, through the night, Lead me on, to the light, Take my hand, Precious Lord Lead me home. Dorsey was convinced that the words and the melody came to him as a direct gift from God. His spirit healed, he went on to write more than four hundred Gospel songs, including, "We will meet Him in the Sweet By and By," and "There'll be peace," and "Stand By Me." I learned," he said, "That when we are in our deepest grief, when we feel farthest from God, this is when God is closet, and we are most open to that Restoring Power." (p 83)

Notes from The Power of Suggestion with HypnosisDr. Hollander expressed the opinion the most people "do not realize that every day they are the subjects of self-hypnosis, and are also influenced by the suggestions of others, without being aware of it." (p 1) Suggestibility is a characteristic of human beings... Everyone is suggestible. We could never thing or do anything if we were to wait until each reason for our thoughts or deeds have been proved. Each of us believes in things which we cannot demonstrate, but which we accept in good faith.(p 1-2) Speaking generally, anything we really sense; that is, anything we see, hear, taste, smell or feel, is a suggestion. However, in the psychological sense, suggestion means much more than that. It stands for a clear, definite perception, thought, or mental image, of sufficient force to make an impression on the unconscious level of the mind. Mental perceptions, thoughts and desires become "suggestions" in the technical sense, only when lodged in the unconscious level of the mind. (p 2) The power of suggestion works when we see someone yawn, when we hear music which causes us to tap our foot or start humming. With some people, the mere mention that they are blushing is enough to produce a flow of blood to the face. With others the mention of certain insects will cause the skin to itch. The mention of a nude woman will arouse some men sexually. Talking about blood can cause some people to develop upset stomach. (p 3) Various theories have been presented through the years concerning the influence of heredity on our physical and mental condition. However, most doctors today are of the opinion that actual disease, except in a very few cases, is not transmitted. Many physicians still say that we inherit the tendency toward the diseases of our parents. They will go on to say that a weakened nerve condition, or possibly a defective organism may be transmitted, but not the disease itself. (p 4) I have had many cases in which a client had learned to develop an illness from a parent by observing one or both of the parents and the unconscious level of the mind accepted what was observed and caused the processes and activities of the body to function in such a way that the illness developed. Cancer in the family, or insanity in the family, or other dread diseases, create a mental picture in the unconscious level of the mind and furnishes the suggestion. That suggestion makes an impression in the mind and under a low state of vitality, or a mood of depression, an cause the body to produce the conditions which bring actual disease. (p 5)Unpleasant Thoughts are Dangerous: Discordant thoughts such as anger, hatred, jealousy, envy, greed, cruelty, grief, sorrow, regrets, doubt, uncertainty, worry, anxiety, depression, despair and self-condemnatory thoughts such as self-belittlement, disparagement and feelings of inferiority, all work to produce discord in the entire range of our being. (p 20) When we notice a negative thought entering our mind, we should immediately dispel it by thinking of something positive to replace it. Think of a good, positive book, or begin reading a good article in a magazine. Ever chance you get read good positive books or magazine articles so the mind becomes filled with positive, uplifting thoughts and ideas. Or get busy with some task or some recreational activity that calls for concentration of the mental activities along positive lines. It may take conscious effort at first, but the more you practice it, the more successful you become. Remember that it is difficult for two things to occupy the same space in the mind at the same time. (p 23-24) It has been repeated many times: "You are what you think." If you think failure, you will fail. If you think success, you will succeed. This sounds simple and trite, but it is a proven fact. The person with a positive determination will succeed and prosper. (p 44) Suggestion that a given properly can enable existing potentials within a client to emerge, however, it cannot cause non-existing potentials to emerge. For example, you can tell athlete he is going to be able to jump higher than he has ever jumped before, and he may be able to surpass what he has done previously. However, if you tell him he will leave your office and jump over a ten story building, that would, no doubt, be beyond his inner potential, and the suggestion would be ineffective. (p. 70) There are two characteristics involved in giving suggestions in such a way that they are effective: (1) You want to have your suggestions designed so they bypass the limitations that have been set up in the conscious mind of the client. (2) The suggestions should be designed to convince the client the client's inner mind to cause the processes of the client's body to respond properly and produce the physical changes needed. (p 95)TWO CATEGORIES OF INDIRECT APPROACHES: 1. Structuring suggestions to get the client's mind to say "yes": (p 96) (1) Make a true statement such as: "There are, many different ways in which your mind can function. You can use your mind to think and make decisions. In your sleep at night, you can dream. In those dreams you can see people, you can talk, you can move to different locations, and you can go through numerous other experiences even though the conscious part of your mind is asleep." All of the sentences in the paragraph above are true. By telling them to the client, you get the client's mind to recognize them as true, then when you add a suggestion calling for improvement in some ability or in the physical body, the mind responds by accepting that as true.(2) The next approach is by making use of interesting and personally motivating material. (3) Still another approach is in being casual, permissive, and positive. (p 97) (4) A fourth approach is having the client validate suggestions that you give him. If you give the suggestion that the client get numbness in his right hand, you validate it by pinching the hand to let the client be aware of the numbness. (5) Build expectancy. (6) Accept any response exhibited by the client as valid.(p 98)2. Us the client's associative processes and mental skills to produce physiological changes in the body. Ten examples of indirect suggestions that can cause a client's mind to produce change. (1) Your will find yourself eliminating all excess fat and fluid from you body as soon as your system is ready for it to leave. (2) The inner levels of your mind are causing you to experience changes in the way that is healthiest for your. (3) Would you like to have you hands on your thighs or on the arms of he chair when you go into the hypnotic state? (4) will the unconscious level of your mind cause you to stop wetting the bed tonight, or will it be Sunday night before you stop wetting the bed. (p 99)(5) There may be times when I'm talking to you and it may seem that my voice is a long distance away. There may other times when I'm talking to you that you are unaware of my voice. That's okay. Your inner mind will hear and receive everything I tell you. (6) Your inner mind can go back and discover that you know what has been causing that problem without your conscious mind knowing you have done it. (7) Your inner mind can sense what has been causing that problem without any conscious effort by you, and then get the problem resolved in a very pleasant way. (8) You may be surprised when you awaken from hypnosis to find that your left arm did not awaken. (9) When the unconscious level of your mind knows that changes have taken place and you will never smoke again, one of the fingers on your left hand will lift up toward the ceiling, and your finger will remain up until I tell it to go back down. (10) You can let the muscles in and around your eyes become so relaxed that or eyelids feel like they want to remain shut. When you have your eyelids completely relaxed, test them to be sure they remain shut. (p 100)

Notes from HypnotherapyRemoving Symptoms: These people who talk about dangers of symptom removal through hypnosis fail to consider the fact that in medicine, a patient is usually treated for organic aspects of his disease, with no regard to the possibility of underlying psychological conditions that may be the actual cause of the condition. They treat the symptom only. Add to this the fact that most physicians admit that the majority of their patients are actually suffering from a psychosomatic illness rather than an organically caused illness, the use of medicine to handle psychosomatic illness can really be questioned. (p 2) I'm not condemning the medical profession. Instead I'm merely pointing out the lack of logic in claiming that symptom removal through hypnosis is dangerous, when it actually amounts to the same thing as symptom removal through medicine, except symptom removal through hypnosis does not have dangerous side effects that the majority of prescription drugs have. (p 3)Script for Arthritis: The type of arthritis that you were experiencing is caused by calcium deposits between the bones. Each time you move your fingers, your hands, your arms or other parts of your body, your bones are being lubricated with natural oils and fluids within you body. The calcium deposits are being covered. All discomfort is gradually fading away, comparable to the way the sun fades away when it goes down each evening. All of the swelling in your bones is gradually decreasing. All joints in your body are becoming normal in size. (p 44) Each day you notice some improvement. the discomfort keeps diminishing and you are able to move your fingers, your hand, your arms and all other parts of your body. (p 44-45) Your subconscious mind is giving your body an order. Your body is responding and you continue experiencing improved physical, mental, and spiritual health. (p 45)I believe everyone can be hypnotized. If the hypnotist uses the right technique, to fit the client rather than try to make the client fit the hypnotist's technique, the client can be hypnotized. It is my feeling when the hypnotist finds a client unhypnotizable, the hypnotist is somehow transmitting a sense of doubt to the client. Whereas, if the hypnotist believes everyone can be hypnotized, and begins experiencing a little difficult, he will change his technique to fit the client, and will find that everyone can be hypnotized, by adapting to the client rather than by trying to make the client adapt to the hypnotist's technique. (p 47-48)Winkler's 5 Levels of the Mind: (1) The conscious level is that part of the mind with which we do our thinking, reasoning, and the making of decisions. It is our level of awareness. We use the conscious level of the mind to solve problems. It also seems to contain information that we are able to recall without difficulty. (p 65) (2) The semi-conscious level of the mind is the storehouse for material that does not need to be recalled immediately. However, the information in this level of mind is stored near enough to the conscious level that it can be recalled with it is triggered by a suggestion or an experience. It is located in the memory bank of the mind a little deeper than information that is retained in the conscious level of the mind. (p 65-66)(3) The subconscious level is that part of the mind that contains information of experiences we have had since birth and are unable to recall under normal conditions. Information in this level of the mind seems to be buried more deeply. It cannot be recalled even when triggered by a suggestion or an experience. Information from this level can only be recalled through techniques such as hypnotherapy, sodium pentothal, or dreams. (4) The unconscious level of the mind is the term I'm using for purposes of accounting for other information that may have been recorded in the mind prior to birth. Information in this level of the mind may have been recorded while we were in our mother's womb, or even prior to have been conceived, if there reincarnation is a fact. Information in this level would have been recorded in all other incarnations a person may have experienced. (5) The spirit mind is a term I'm using to account for all other unexplainable knowledge contained in the mind. It includes such items at mental telepathy, prophecies, and all other capabilities that seem to be beyond our normal mental abilities... I think Jesus was referring to what I'm calling the "Spirit Mind" when he stated, "The Kingdom of God is within you." (p 66)